- Presidnt Joe Biden said he was ‘proud’ that son Hunter survived drug addiction
- He said he accepted the jury’s guilty verdict on three federal gun charges
- READ MORE: Hunter Biden verdict LIVE
President Joe Biden reacted to Hunter Biden being found guilty on all three federal gun charges by saying that he was ‘proud’ of his son for surviving drug addiction.
The president sent out a statement through the White House counsel’s office shortly after the Delaware-based jury delivered a verdict.
The first son was found guilty on two counts of having completed a form falsely – lying about his sobriety – when he bought a Colt Cobra revolver in October 2018, while the third count established that he possessed a firearm while using narcotics.
‘As I said last week, I am the President, but I am also a Dad,’ the president reiterated. ‘Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today.’
‘So many families who have had loved ones battle addiction understand the feeling of pride seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and resilient in recovery,’ Biden continued.
President Joe Biden sent out a statement in support of his son Hunter following a Delaware-based jury finding the first son guilty on three federal gun charges. He will address victims of gun violence later Tuesday
First lady Jill Biden (left) holds hands with her stepson Hunter Biden (center) with wife Melissa Cohen (right) as they depart the courthouse in Wilmington Tuesday, after receiving the guilty verdict
‘As I also said last week, I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal,’ the president added.
Biden remained in Washington, D.C. while the jury deliberated Tuesday.
But following the verdict, the president’s public schedule quickly shifted with him now rushing from an event in D.C. – ironically where he was speaking about gun safety – to Wilmington, Delaware to be with his son.
Other Biden family members gathered at the courthouse in Wilmington throughout the week-long hearing. The verdict came down so quickly, however, that first lady Jill Biden wasn’t in the courtroom when it was announced.
‘Jill and I will always be there for Hunter and the rest of our family with our love and support. Nothing will ever change that,’ the president also said in his statement.
The president is slated to deliver remarks this afternoon to victims and survivors of gun violence at Everytown’s Gun Sense University, taking place at the Washington Hilton.
Biden will ‘highlight the progress to keep guns out of dangerous hands’ the White House said Monday.
He is set to announce that the Department of Justice has charged more than 500 defendants for violating new gun trafficking laws created by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the piece of legislation Biden ushered through Congress and signed into law in June 2022.
Biden returned from France’s D-Day celebrations Sunday, but will return to Europe – to Italy for the G7 – on Wednesday.